In 1862, the Chamber of Commerce of Calais began to
take an interest in the major projects underway at
the port, especially the construction of a wet dock and a scouring
basin west of Calais. In 1874, the projects were subjected to a public
benefit inquiry, and after having passed the first two preliminary
stages, the Chamber received provisional approval to downgrade the
East Face. Lastly, on December 14, 1875, on the proposal of the Minister
for Public Works, a law officially declared the public utility of the
project, which consisted of :
|
- Creation of a holding basin,
- New outer harbour
intended for passenger liners,
- Vast basin in the
east connected to the outer harbour by two locks,
- Relocation
of the Calais Marine Terminal from Bassin du Petit
Paradis to a new area between the towns of Calais
and Saint-Pierre,
- Development
of the Calais canal.
|
|
Work began when the law of April 29, 1879 ordered
the retirement of the old north, east, and south faces and the construction
of the new enclosure. This law paved the way for expansion of the quayages,
the construction of a dry dock, and the substitution of a large shipping
passageway with a canal lock bypass. These improvements and others
such as the widening of the canal, the construction of new quays in
the outer harbour, the doubling of the wet dock lock, and the deepening
of the tidal basin lock were included in the amended law of July 28,
1879.
|
| The first stone of the wet dock was laid by the Minister
of Public Works, Varoy, accompanied by the president
of the Senate, Leon Say, who paid a visit on July
19, 1880 in order to visit work of the port and the test pit of the
underwater tunnel in Sangatte. In this same year, a study was conducted
on the organisation of equipment at the quays of the new port. Finally,
on September 22, 1983 the Chamber of Commerce obtained the concession.
The equipment and facilities included : |
- Shelters along the quayages to protect goods,
- Hydraulic
cranes,
- Hangars spread over the south-west section
of the outer harbour. These tools were supplemented
by a vast railway network.
|
In 1889, the Chamber of Commerce requested the study
of a project to build a bridge-dam in the outer harbour to the west
of the tidal dam. The cofferdam which separated the channel from the
outer harbour was burst at the end of February 1889 and water penetrated
for the first time in the new basins the night of February 27th, 1889.
The new port was inaugurated on June 5, 1889 by French President Sadi
Carnot. A commemorative medal was struck. In order to increase publicity,
the Chamber published a booklet entitled "The Port of Calais inaugurated
by Mr Carnot, President of the French Republic, June 3, 1889".
On November 4, 1889, it was decided to name the new wet dock after
Carnot. In recognition of the eminent members of the Chamber who had
worked for the new port, the south-west quay of the outer harbour was
named after Paul Dévot, and the west quays of the Carnot Basin
were baptised 'Crespin' and 'Baker'. The Chamber requested the authorisation
to give the same names to the hangars and suggested naming the swing
bridges 'Vétillard'.
|
The new Port of Calais benefited, especially initially,
from the passenger traffic to and from England. Thanks to its diverse
facilities, the Port of Calais could accommodate increasingly large,
faster, and more comfortable boats able to carry out Cross-Channel
services with fixed times. Once inaugurated, the Port of Calais was
still in need of improvement. Construction of the tidal quay began
in 1890, and the new pier was completed in 1896.
|
|
By the decree of January 26, 1895, the Prefect of
Pas-de-Calais prescribed a public benefit inquiry
into the draft project for improving the western part of the port,
which included following work :
|
- Rebuilding the wet dock lock,
- Dredging
of a channel in the dry harbour and wet dock and
underpinning of the riprap and wharves of the basin,
- Replacement
of the riprap of the Baleine by a wooden landing
stage and a masonry pierhead,
- Repair
of the citadel bridge,
- Reconstruction of the long
bridge extending the existing lock with a carriage
road.
|
The Chamber of Commerce had reserves with regards
to the project proposal, particularly about the length of the long
bridge, which it considered much too narrow. In addition, the commission
report was unfavourable, and as a result the file was handed over to
the engineering corps to be re-analysed. On April 7, 1898, the Chamber
successfully pleaded its case and construction was authorised of a
new 17-metre wide lock in the port. Work was completed in 1906.
|
The Law of February 24, 1906 declared of public utility
the second stage of the west port improvement project
:
|
- The removal of Fasquel quay and the flushing
basin,
- Construction of a wide masonry dam across
the flushing basin, an extension of the large dike
in masonry which connected the latter to the coastal
road,
- Construction
of a breakwater and landing stages where the flushing
sluice was located,
- Various
other improvement projects : reconstruction of the
western pier, improvement of the channel, etc.
|
|
In 1912, the Chamber of Commerce began to consider
a project that would convert the East flushing basin into a large inner
harbour with quays and docks. On October 13, 1916, it deliberated on
another East flushing basin conversion project, this time for the transformation
of the flushing basin into a wet dock with a 25-metre wide chamber
lock.
|
From 1916 to 1925, various development projects for
the East were presented and approved by the Public Authorities. Amongst
other things, in 1919 the chamber recommended the creation of a port-canal
extending from Calais towards Dunkirk in the Flanders alluvial plain.
|
In 1924, a ministerial decision stipulated that from
that point forward all Port of Calais expansion projects should be
directed towards the East.
|
The decisions of July 19, 1928, of September 23, 1929,
May 22, 1930, July 26, 1935, and July 1, 1946 prescribed studies for
developing the East port, but none were met with any success. The users
of the port, frustrated by this standstill, came to an agreement with
the Chamber of Commerce to back the State in reconstructing certain
elements of the port and to redirect development projects towards the
West.
|
Unfortunately, the Second World War devastated port
activity and in 1945 the port was almost entirely destroyed and required
complete reconstruction. The formidable task was undertaken of making
the port accessible to the goods and passenger ships as quickly as
possible.
|
|
Paul Devot quay in 1944
|
|
Vétillard lock at the Liberation
|
|
Shipping basin and Carnot basin at the Liberation
|
After the English army handed the port over to French
authorities in 1946, work began immediately on the maritime station
platform to restore sea and rail connections with England. Next came
the reconstruction of the quays of the outer harbour and Carnot Basin,
which had been mined by the Germans. Lastly, work began on the West
Basin, which had been partly filled, and since 1950 the port has almost
been at its pre-war capacity. Cranes and gantries which the Germans
had disassembled were recovered in Germany, Austria and Bulgaria, with
the addition of English and American cranes paid for by the Marshall
plan, the port was very quickly re-equipped. However, the war had profoundly
changed shipbuilding, leading to the appearance of increasingly large
and specialised ships such as tankers, ore tankers, oil tankers, bulk
carriers, Ro-Ro ships, container ships, etc., which required the ports
to acquire new equipment for receiving and handling goods. The Paul
Devôt quay was refitted to receive ships of 15-20,000-tonne ships
and the Carnot Basin was develop to receive Ro-Ro ships.
|
It was not until the 1970's that the Chamber managed
to bring the East port project back to the table.
Indeed, much had happened in the meantime :
|
- Revenue from the Cross-Channel port made
such a project feasible.
- The establishment of new
companies such as Tioxide and Union Carbide in
the Dunes zone, was made possible by the port configuration.
|
| The project studied in the 70's would have enabled
the berthing of ships weighing approximately 40,000 deadweight tonnes,
which corresponds to a draught of 12.5 m. |
When Mr Henri Ravisse became president of the CCI
in 1980, all the files were ready but the regulatory
authorities would not embrace the project wholeheartedly because of
protest from Calais inhabitants. This was also the period that the
new Channel tunnel project was gaining momentum. President Ravisse
decided that it was time to make his voice heard, to inform others
about the importance of the economic benefits that the port brings
to the Calais economy and the necessity of securing port activity,
beyond the creation of a hypothetical fixed link. It was difficult
to convince stakeholders of the importance of a concrete, prudent plan
for the future of an average French port when compared with the abstract,
futuristic connotations of the fixed link. Thanks to his tenacity,
President Ravisse was able to make headway. The list of projects completed
during his mandate is impressive :
|
- Completion of the new Cross-Channel terminal
(1980),
- Relocation of the East pier (1984),
- Expansion
of the Cross-Channel terminal (1987),
- Doubling
of berths 3 and 4 (1979-1980),
- East port,
- Connection
to the East bypass,
- East port cranes,
- Le Calaisien
tug boat,
- Berth
VI (1987),
- Berth VII (1990),
- Berth VIII (1995),
- Rebuilding
of berth V (1996),
- Ro-Ro berth for new cars
(1992),
- Catamaran
berth in the East port (1991),
- Refitting of berth 2 for
catamarans,
- Reorganisation of the Cross-Channel
terminal,
- Construction
of grade-separated roadways at the terminal
|
|
